Obama, in an interview with The Associated Press, acknowledged that Americans estimates are ‘‘more conservative’’ than those of the Israelis.

Obama also says the world must ‘‘test’’ whether Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is serious about resolving its nuclear dispute diplomatically. But he says the U.S. won’t take a ‘‘bad deal’’ from Iran.

Israel has dismissed Iran’s outreach to the U.S.

Obama says if he were Israel’s leader, he’d be ‘‘be very wary as well of any kind of talk from the Iranians.’’